World Cyclocross Masters World Championships Race Report

After such a bumpy few months, I didn't think things could get any bumpier, but I didn't bargain in a cold front that blew in Thursday night. After watching the weather for 2 weeks and hoping for 40 degree weather I pre-rode the course for 2 days in ankle-deep mud, rain, and snow and then watched as temperatures plummeted to the teens Thursday night. The wet, sloppy, muddy course, turned to a rock hard, rutted course as if wet concrete had set over

night. After a leisurely morning, my "pit boss", Marty, and I headed to the course around 10:30

to walk the course, warm up, and get ready for a

1PM start.

After parking, we walked the course and noted a few things. First, the race organizers had shortened the course, eliminated the treacherous muddy sidehill sector that riders were either running, or crashing on. Second, the course was frozen. SOLID. Riders were picking their way through the course, and even Scott Frederick that won the 35-39 race looked like he was warming up, not racing! The course started with a 300m paved section, taking a hard left onto a grass straight that had turned to a frozen, muddy bog. This emptied out into a left hand turn through frozen sand and rolled over more muddy, frozen grass before hitting a right-left section into a 180 degree turn into the first run up.

Frozen Run Up

The flyover was next after more mud and ice (theme of the day) and then through the pits for the first time. The "easiest" section of the course was next, but that was complicated by the icy

ruts that made this the most treacherous course I'd even ridden. After crossing through the pits again, we hit the long sand pit into the woods before heading up and down the sidehill sector and last run up before the paved finishing straight.

After the walk, I did 2 laps on the course, which was woefully short of what was needed to try to dial-in the lines that were

optimal on the day. Either way, all the riders were in the same boat. I got in a perfect warm up as Marty took my spare bike to

the pit. I was warm and ready to race by 12:45, hopped off the trainer and got to the the line.

I drew a second row start (behind fellow A-towners Drew Hager and Eric White) and lined up next to Thomas Turner, Sven van Eyndt, and Andrew Reardon - 1, 2, and 3 by the end of the day.

As we nervously awaited the gun we all stripped off our extra

layers and got ready for the challenging course. The gun went off and we accelerated off the line. I entered the first turn in around 10th place as we hit the frozen, rutted turf. After about 500m we hit the first S-turn and another rider careened into my front wheel, jamming my left brake

arm underneath my front wheel. As I came to a screeching halt, I jumped off and pulled the arm out and struggled to get the cable back into the arm. After nearly a minute I jumped back on my bike, dead last. I committed myself to pulling myself back into the top 10. I started passing rider after rider, but continued to get stuck as riders swerved and crashed all over the course.

Getting ready

After about 2 laps I pulled myself back into the top 15, and pulled back time on the straights, as well as the icy sections where the 3/8" screw "studs" I put into the bottom of my shoes aided me anytime that I dismounted. I could hear the battle unfold in front of me as Sven, the Belgian,

Andy, and Tom battle for the podium spots. I battled for my own spot and clawed my way back to the trio fighting for 8th place with about 2.5 laps to go. I focused on riding cleanly and smoothly, as I dismounted and ran the icy sections and zig-zagged across the course negotiating the deep ruts on the straights and turns. On the second to last lap I hit a deep rut on the backside of the course and crashed hard, losing a spot and hitting my head and right shoulder. I remounted and refocused as I got passed for 8th. I decided not to take any more risks and settled into 9th place with a lap to go. I rode the last lap myself, opening up on the straight-

aways and running full force on the run ups. I hit the final paved stretch and sprinted in, 2:30 down on the leader. After losing a minute on the first lap I was about 15s slower per lap than 1st place.

Riding the ruts . . .

and running the frozen puddles

Looking at the results:
1st place: 2009 World Champ and runner up last year
2nd: Pro mountain biker
3rd: former pro mountain biker
4th: Spaniard
5th: former pro mountain biker
6th: Brit
7th: where I "should have been" without the first lap crash and mechanical!

The results show a few things: our field was truly international, the course favored those with mountain bike skills, and it helps to stay on your bike!

Thanks for reading, and thanks for my 2011 sponsors: Industry 9 Componentry, Highland Brewery, Youngblood Bicycles, Cannondale, Mamacita’s, Schwalbe, DeFeet, Blue Sky, and Omnium Bodyworks

And a big thanks to Rachel, and all the other NCers who were out cheering!

Masters World Cyclocross Championships Week Diary

My journey to the 2012 Masters World Cyclocross Championships started with excitement when I first learned over a year ago that they would be held in Louisville, KY, one of my favorite race venues. I've participated in 2 editions of Masters Road Nats here as well as the USGP Derby Cross, so I was familiar with the area and the course. At the time I didn't bargain for how bumpy of a road I would take on the way.

Over two and a half years ago, my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 fallopian tube cancer; a variation of ovarian cancer. It has been an up and down battle since then, and my mother finally succumbed, after a hard-fought battle, on December 11th. In the Spring my wife and I learned that she was pregnant with our second child, and one of my first questions was "should I still go to Worlds?". She assured me that it was still a good choice as long as she didn't have to go (3 weeks after our son was born on December 18th). Combine this, with my mother's funeral 4 days before I had to leave for Louisville, taking care of our toddler son, and the general stresses of a life lived on call half of the time during a 50-60hr work week, and what you got was a lot of 5AM mornings trying to squeeze in some workouts inside on the trainer before I headed out the door around 7AM.

To help combat all of these challenges, I hired a coach with the specific goal of accountability during this tumultuous time. He told me that I needed more than my available 5-7hrs a week to compete on a world-scale, but we worked together to formulate a plan to keep me sane and get me to Louisville in the best possible form given my unique set of circumstances.

Saturday/Sunday: Last week began with my mother's funeral and a trip to MD with my son on a plane to be with my family. We hit the road at 4:45AM to catch a 7AM flight before the funeral on Saturday. I got a quick run in Friday and a nice ride in Saturday after the service. While my head was elsewhere, it was nice to have some workouts to stay focused. Sunday was a lot of time with the family before having to return home on Monday.

Monday: Ethan and I flew home first thing, and I dropped him off at daycare, hit the trainer for a quick set of intervals, and then headed to the hospital until about 10PM. A late night for sure, following a long day.

Tuesday: Up early to get back to work, before washing the bikes, packing the Element for 3 days of cold and mud, and this meant 2 bikes, 4 sets of wheels, and practically every piece of cycling clothing I owned. Add to the mix food, drinks, and street clothes, and it was a packed car! I also learned that there wouldn't be a seeding heat for our field on Thursday, so I decided to get in another set of intervals before dinner.

Wednesday: Up early and a hot cup of coffee along with more clothes packing to combat the sub-freezing temperatures predicted for the next 3 days. I hit the road to pick up my stepfather from Louisville airport, before checking in and pre-riding the course. He was surprised to see how muddy it was after a full day of rain! He'd never seen a "real" cyclocross race before so he was in for a treat! The course was so muddy that they limited the pre-ride to 2 hours, and I was only able to get in about 2 laps, and that was after power washing the bike in between! We found a car wash to spray everything down since I didn't feel like waiting for the hose for 30 minutes in the cold. After that it was on to registration before our first of 3 gourmet meals that I lined up for our 3 night stay. Night one was at The Marketplace.

Thursday: The day I was supposed to riding in a seeding heat, turned into another pre-ride of the course as my "pit boss", Marty, practiced power washing and bike exchanges for what could be a very muddy course on Friday. The plan was bike changes every lap with the possibility of every half lap! After 2 laps, my dad power washed and lubed my bike, and then power washed me, while it was snowing! Then it was back to the hotel for a luke warm shower (since our hot water wasn't working so well), and off to dinner at our best dinner of the evening at Limestone. No beer or wine for me though since Friday was the big day . . .